Tom If you "personally don't think that Confederate soldiers were American soldiers," then why do you think an American and Missouri flag would honor them? Your statement confirms that only a Confederate battle flag can honor a Confederate soldier. Therefore, you are trying to ignore and rewrite history contrary to your other statement, "I also do not think it wise to try to ignore or rewrite history." As for your concern about a "verbal firefight" with "reconstructed Rebels" - do you think those words would be interpreted as anything but an insult? Especially, when you forgot to include your full title - you forgot the "history ignoring and rewriting" before "Yankee." Another point - If Confederate soldiers were not "American" soldiers, why were they given pensions? Denny Moore Proud Great Grandson of: [John] Richard Moore, Private, Company E, 41st Regiment, Georgia Infantry, CSA (wounded and captured at the Battle of Philadelphia, Tennessee; Released through prisoner exchange; Wounded twice during the battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee). George Barnett Williams, Private, Company "D", 7th Regiment, Kentucky Volunteers, USA, (lost all hearing in one ear and most of the hearing in the other ear, and ruptured}. James W. Legg, Major, Legg's Company, 43rd Regiment Enrolled Missouri Militia (also Private in the Mexican War). -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 6:49 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [MO-CW] Re: MO-CW-D Digest V03 #9 List members, Because several people responding in regards to the Gephardt controversy have stated that the Confederate flag should be flown at Confederate memorials because Confederate soldiers were also American soldiers, does it not follow that flying the American and Missouri flags at these memorials does them all the honor that is necessary? I personally don't think that Confederate soldiers were American soldiers, in the sense that they and their government were rebelling against the lawful government of the United States, and could have been tried for treason after the war if cooler heads in the Republican Party had not held sway and offered a blanket amnesty to lower-ranking soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy (which only became effective, by the way, after they took an oath of loyalty to the U.S. government). For that reason, I am not sure that flying the Confederate flag at battle memorials is a good idea, because I think that doing so could reasonably be interpreted as an endorsement of the Confederate cause. That said, I also do not think it wise to try to ignore or rewrite history. Would it be an acceptable solution to display the Confederate flag at battle memorials outdoors, beside or near the flagpole, but in a glass or other protective case? That way, an attempt would be made to display the flags of both combatants in the same place, without providing what any reasonable person could interpret as an endorsement of the Confederate cause. Higginsville, of course, however, is not a battle memorial but rather a memorial at the site of a Confederate cemetery and home. Should the Confederate flag fly there? I would say no, the American and Missouri flags would once again be honors enough if they are really American soldiers, but I could see how Confederate supporters might believe it OK to fly the Confederate flag there and at other Confederate memorials that are not battle memorials. I'd really rather not begin a verbal firefight with all you unreconstructed rebels, but as one of the few apparent Yankees on this list, I also didn't think I could let this pass. The CW really is a war that's never over. Tom Pearson